GAME REVIEW: Halo 4 a must-have for every Master Chief fan out there

For years, Bungie helped make Halo a system-selling franchise for Microsoft’s Xbox consoles. The torch has been passed to 343 Industries, and they’ve created an impressive, must-have game for the Xbox 360.

The story takes place four years after the events of Halo 3, and Master Chief and his artificial intelligence partner Cortana are stuck in space, stranded aboard a beaten-up ship. As it slowly heads toward Requiem, a Forerunner planet, Covenant forces invade it. Cortana wakes up our hero from his deep sleep, and the eight-mission campaign begins. It took me roughly seven hours to complete it on Normal difficulty, which is on par from past Halo games.

There are two important storylines going on in Halo 4. Cortana is old and beyond the typical lifespan of a computerized helper. To simply put it, she’s dying and starting to go crazy. Master Chief, not wanting to lose his favorite companion, promises to save Cortana, even though she is hesitant anything can be done. As this story progresses, you can’t help but feel bad for the two protagonists. Their interactions with each other don’t feel forced, and 343 Industries did a great job humanizing Master Chief, something we rarely see in Halo games.

As all of this is going on, a new threat must be dealt with. The Prometheans are ancient protectors of Requiem, and while they don’t get along with the Covenant, they really don’t like Master Chief. Since this is the first game in a planned trilogy, the plot does get a little confusing to follow. As expected, there will be questions needing answers in future games.

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In the beginning, classic Covenant enemies like the Hunters, Brutes, Jackals and measly Grunts are in full force, reminding you that yes, this is a Halo game. The gameplay does feel familiar at first, since you’re essentially blasting away the same aliens with classic guns like the assault rifle, battle rifle, needler and more. But then the Prometheans come along to change the game.

Three main types of these ancient aliens will make quick work of you if you’re not careful. The Crawlers travel in packs, and while easy to kill, they can overwhelm you in a hurry. The Knights are the most competent and will duck for cover, making them harder to defeat. They’ll even teleport around you, so watch your back. Then there are the Watchers, who fly above the battlefield providing protection for their allies and reviving the dead. You pretty much have to eliminate these first, or you’ll be fighting enemies all day long.

A welcome change is you can finally sprint whenever, wherever. Beforehand you needed to equip a special armor ability to do it, which was weird. Armor abilities include walking around with a shield, flying around with a jet pack, and releasing a hologram to trick others. My favorite was deploying an Autosentry turret to attack enemies, helping me save ammo.

It wouldn’t be Halo without vehicles, and there are a few spots in the campaign that give Master Chief a break from running and gunning to hopping into some heavy machinery. The Warthog lets you drive around while AI partners shoot at enemy Ghosts and Banshees, which can be hijacked with ease. A couple parts will put Master Chief in a Mantis, letting you mow down the Covenant and Prometheans with the machine gun and blow away ships with missiles. My least favorite “toy” was near the end of the game where you pilot a ship through an obstacle course of moving barriers and other distractions. It was a short in length but easily the most frustrating due to the constant death and replaying of certain sections.

Level design is a mix of open areas and corridor action, with a little more focus on the indoors. The attention to detail is amazing. Halo 4 is easily one of the best looking games on the Xbox 360. The lighting effects along with the overall atmosphere in many spots will leave you in awe. While it may be a linear game, it doesn’t really feel like it when you’re playing it. Checkpoints for the most part are generous, so dying is not a big deal.

Most of the missions involve running from Point A to Point B to activate something, with killing a set amount of enemies along the away. 343 Industries played it safe, but for the future I wouldn’t mind them taking a few more risks to spice up the single-player experience.

The main campaign is just one part of the Halo 4 experience. The fun continues in Spartan Ops, a whole other campaign involving the UNSC Infinity. Up to four players can play cooperatively in these new set of missions taking place after the events of Halo 4. After the game’s release, a new episode can be downloaded for free each week, expanding on the story of the Infinity crew and their exploration of Requiem. It looks to be a wonderful addition to the game.

No doubt what every Halo 4 owner will be playing is War Games, the home for multiplayer. Featuring a variety of maps at launch (and you know DLC is coming), it’s packed with content and modes that’ll be played until the next Halo game. The classic Team Slayer, Capture the Flag, King of the Hill and one of my personal favorites, Oddball, are included.

In some modes there is the ability to call in ordinance, like receiving a special type of gun or damage booster, if you’re doing well enough. It’s reminiscent of Call of Duty, minus the kill streaks. It’s a good way to reward efforts without having to be an expert.

Another fun one is the free-for-all Regicide mode, where the leader of the match is declared the king with a bounty of points awarded for their death. The bounty is increased over time if the king isn’t killed, so there’s an incentive to go after the leader.

Customizable loadouts are a big part of multiplayer this time, with the more you play the more options you have to create the perfect setup for yourself. Each player can choose their own primary and secondary weapons and grenade types, and other perks like faster reload speeds, increased motion sensor range, and the ability to rank up faster are available. Some items have level requirements before being used, and Spartan Points are spent to unlock unique ones. Even though it may take a while to unlock those cool weapons and armor mods, I didn’t feel overwhelmed playing against others with higher ranks and better perks when I first booted up multiplayer.

Players can also design their own multiplayer maps in Forge mode, which has been expanded this time around. I never get into the map-making aspect of games, but it’s a nice mode to have for those who love showing off their creativity.

When 343 Industries took over the Halo franchise from Bungie, there were some concerns if a new developer could pull it off. Fear not, Master Chief fans. Halo 4 is a remarkable game, and the future looks very bright.

4 stars out of 4

A copy of Halo 4 was supplied by Microsoft for this review

Jeff Hoard writes about video games for The Oakland Press. He can be reached at jeff.hoard@oakpress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffHoard921. His blog is www.yay4videogames.blogspot.com.